Calvin Klein

History

The early years

In 1968, Klein founded Calvin Klein Limited, a coat shop in the York Hotel in New York City, with $10,000. The first Calvin Klein collection was a line of "youthful, understated coats and dresses" featured at the New York City store, Bonwit Teller.

1970s

By 1971, Klein had added sportswear, classic blazers, and lingerie to his women's collection.

In 1973, he received his first Coty American Fashion Critics' Award for his 74-piece womenswear collection - the youngest recipient at that time. Klein won the award again in 1974 and 1975. By 1977, annual revenues had increased to $30 million (equivalent to $117 million in 2016), and Klein had licenses for scarves, shoes, belts, furs, sunglasses, and sheets. Klein and Schwartz were making $4 million each. After the company signed licenses for cosmetics, jeans, and menswear, Klein's annual retail volume was estimated at $100 million (equivalent to $390 million in 2016). In 1978, Klein claimed sales of 200,000 pairs of his famous jeans the first week they were on the market. By 1981, Fortune figured Klein's annual income at $8.5 million a year. In the mid-1970s, he had created a designer-jeans craze by putting his name on the back pocket. Klein's design assistant at the time, Jeffrey Banks, has claimed credit for the logo garments, stating that he had the logo from a press folder silkscreened onto the sleeve of a brown T-shirt as a present for Klein. The gift was assumed by Schwartz to be part of the upcoming line, and similar logo shirts formed the uniform for the front-of-house staff at Klein's next catwalk show, leading to buyer demand.

Calvin Klein (fashion designer)

Calvin Richard Klein (/ˈkælvᵻnˈrɪtʃərdklaɪn/; born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry.

Early years

Klein was born to a Jewish family in The Bronx, New York, the son of Flore (née Stern) and Leo Klein. His father was an immigrant from Hungary while his mother was the daughter of an immigrant from Austria and an American dentist. He attended the High School of Art and Design and matriculated at, but never graduated from, New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, receiving an honorary Doctorate in 2003. He did his apprenticeship in 1962 at an oldline cloak-and-suit manufacturer, Dan Millstein, and spent five years designing at other New York shops. In 1968, he launched his first company with a childhood friend,Barry K. Schwartz.

Klein was one of several design leaders raised in the Jewish immigrant community in the Bronx, along with Robert Denning and Ralph Lauren. He became a protégé of Baron de Gunzburg, through whose introductions he became the toast of the New York elite fashion scene even before he had his first mainstream success with the launch of his first jeans line. He was immediately recognized for his talent after his first major showing at New York Fashion Week. He was hailed as the new Yves Saint Laurent, and was noted for his clean lines.

Calvin Klein

History

The early years

In 1968, Klein founded Calvin Klein Limited, a coat shop in the York Hotel in New York City, with $10,000. The first Calvin Klein collection was a line of "youthful, understated coats and dresses" featured at the New York City store, Bonwit Teller.

1970s

By 1971, Klein had added sportswear, classic blazers, and lingerie to his women's collection.

In 1973, he received his first Coty American Fashion Critics' Award for his 74-piece womenswear collection - the youngest recipient at that time. Klein won the award again in 1974 and 1975. By 1977, annual revenues had increased to $30 million (equivalent to $117 million in 2016), and Klein had licenses for scarves, shoes, belts, furs, sunglasses, and sheets. Klein and Schwartz were making $4 million each. After the company signed licenses for cosmetics, jeans, and menswear, Klein's annual retail volume was estimated at $100 million (equivalent to $390 million in 2016). In 1978, Klein claimed sales of 200,000 pairs of his famous jeans the first week they were on the market. By 1981, Fortune figured Klein's annual income at $8.5 million a year. In the mid-1970s, he had created a designer-jeans craze by putting his name on the back pocket. Klein's design assistant at the time, Jeffrey Banks, has claimed credit for the logo garments, stating that he had the logo from a press folder silkscreened onto the sleeve of a brown T-shirt as a present for Klein. The gift was assumed by Schwartz to be part of the upcoming line, and similar logo shirts formed the uniform for the front-of-house staff at Klein's next catwalk show, leading to buyer demand.

Latest News for: calvin klein

It’s finally here! Saoirse Ronan and Lupita Nyong'o's advert for CalvinKlein as the joint face of CalvinKleinWomen... The CALVINKLEINWOMEN fragrance campaign features two actresses helping to shape a profound new landscape ... #IAMWOMEN #CALVINKLEIN pic.twitter.com/ig6Dn9aXOg — CALVINKLEIN (@CalvinKlein) July 16, 2018 And now the official video has landed....

Every weekday we bring you the Ad Age/iSpot Hot Spots, new TV commercials tracked by iSpot.tv, the real-time TV ad measurement company with attention and conversion analytics from more than eight million smart TVs. The ads here ran on national TV for the first time yesterday. A few highlights ...CalvinKlein promotes CalvinKleinWomen, "the new fragrance for us." ... ....

Shannon Beador may be going through a messy divorce at the moment , but the RealHousewife of Orange County has come clean about a subject rather sensitive and personal. She may soon go under the knife. Appearing as a guest yesterday on SiriusXM’s Jeff LewisLive, the Bravo personality revealed that she actually visited a plastic surgeon to discuss the possibility of a breast augmentation ... “It’s just like a CalvinKlein pushup....

Editor's note. Seeking Alpha is proud to welcome Marko Cus Babic as a new contributor. It's easy to become a Seeking Alpha contributor and earn money for your best investment ideas. Active contributors also get free access to the SA PRO archive ... The firm owns a large portfolio of clothing brands, including CalvinKlein, Tommy Hilfiger, Van Heusen, IZOD, and others (brands other than CK and TH are collectively known as Heritage brands) ... ....

We could always use a little more Lupita Nyong’o and Saorise Ronan in our lives, especially if they’re reminding us we can be whatever we want to be. Luckily, CALVINKLEINWOMEN, the new all-caps fragrance from CalvinKlein (and the first to be created More » ... ....